The first few episodes were quite promising. I thought the initial cast was interesting. Especially Paddy Considine (the king) surprised me on how well he could carry the role. Milly Alcock was intriguing as well as Rhaenyra, the princess.

And then episode 6 happened. A 10 year jump with randomly some "older" cast, mixed with the same actors, nearly not aged at all.

From that point on I lost interest. Emma D'Arcy couldn't deliver as the older Rhaenyra and some of the other new cast also felt like a downgrade.

Not just that, It's also the moment that, considering such a long timespan the story takes place, you start to notice how one-dimensional the show Is. It becomes a bit soapy. GoT had a surplus in races, traits and storylines going on, all in a somewhat chaotic but inspiring cocktail to build up suspense and intrigue.

This still has the look and feel, but not the content.

It had a few highlights after that which made me somewhat come back to It, but I'm not super impressed. I hoped on a bit more, maybe not to the epic level as GoT, but a bit closer to It. I don't know what to think of It actually. The keyword that seems to come up is mostly "whatever". I guess, that's how I feel after watching this: a whatever show.

The complexity of the House of the Dragon (Season 2) is truly remarkable. The HBOMAX series has consistently employed a talented group of writers for several years. Their brilliance is remarkable. From one week to the next, the scriptwriters have GoT fans guessing and pondering. In the second season, they reintroduced the renowned director and producer commentaries at the conclusion of each episode to clarify the complex relationships among the various families in the Game of Thrones universe. Based on my understanding, Team Black supports Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen as the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. On numerous occasions, King Viserys directly communicated to her his wish for her to become the next ruler, even before his demise. Sadly, Queen Dowager Alicent Hightower, who used to be her dearest childhood friend and is now her mother, cunningly manipulated the King into appointing Prince Aegon II as the successor to the throne upon his passing. In essence, the queen was speaking on behalf of the king, who was suffering from a terminal illness. He was unable to think for himself as he lay on his death-bed next to his wife, Queen Alicent. The Targaryen, Hightower, and Velaryon families are entangled in a complex and magnificent web, with brothers, sisters, and cousins marrying each other and having children together. The entertainment in the second season of this show is absolutely fantastic.

Ok so I've seen a lot of excitement about House of the Dragon. Everybody seems to be enthralled with this new flame breathing hype, and I am to, to an extent. But it feels like there are several faults with the series which just seem to be overlooked. I believe many fans are blinded by their love for the original show. House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, or HotD and GoT as I will now be referring to them from here on out, have two very different ways to progress the story and plot forward. HotD feels like it has to throw in so much unnecessary filler. This is the problem with trying to adapt The Dance of the Dragons into a show format. There is way too much nothing happening until the king finally dies and the war starts. You can't spend 5 episodes getting to know Rhaenyra as a teenager, then jump forward to when she is in her 20s, and then again when she is in her 30s before you actually start the main story. It works in the books because there, it is told from a historical point of view, not something happening in real time. HotD season 1 really does feel like a 10 hour long prologue, which is crazy considering that it even started with a prologue.

GoT season 1 on the other hand slowly but surely introduced the viewer to the world through how the characters behaved and interacted with one another. While at the same time faithfully adapting the source material from the books. But the show also added fenomenal original scenes which we would never be able to get in the books. A perfect example of this is the "War Stories" scene where King Robert Baratheon (played by Mark Addy), Barristan Selmy (played by Ian McElhinney) and Jaime Lannister (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) each recount their first kill. Meanwhile in HotD we get half an episode of the king Viserys (played by Paddy Considine) hunting a white stag as new original content to fill in the blanks. Now am I saying there aren't good scenes in HotD? No, there definitely are. But there is too much filler for it to feel like anything else but filler, not the "calm before the storm" feeling they're going for.

The deer hunt also nicely transitions into my other major point. HotD always feels the need to clarify things which simply don't require clarification. When prince Aegon is celebrating his second birthday, king Viserys holds his infamous white stag hunt in the prince's honor, this is seen as a sign by many due to the white stag being seen as a symbol of the monarchy. Yet they never find the animal, so Viserys instead opts to skewer a regular brown stag. But right before everyone heads home, the white stag shows itself to princess Rhaenyra, really beating in the fact that Rhaenyra is Viserys' rightful heir like a hammer to the viewer's skull. This is simply not needed. We don't need to be told that Rhaenyra's the true successor, anyone watching could've told you that.

HotD outright tells you Rhaenyra's sons are not Laenor's instead of leaving it ambiguous. Why tell us this? It really doesn't matter if they're bastards or not, the only thing that matters is if people think they are bastards or not. Because if they are bastards but everyone thinks they're legitimate then Rhaenyra is fine, but if they are legitimate but everyone thinks they're bastards then Rhaenyra is in a terrible spot. The series also introduced the "Song of Ice and Fire" as a prophecy that Aegon the Conqueror only conquered the seven kingdoms to unify them against the coming night. This is a popular fan theory but it never needed to be confirmed. It is kind of insulting that HotD can't go a single episode without treating its viewers as 10-year olds who can't think for themselves. I'm also personally not a fan of how they made the Valyrian steel dagger that was first used in the assassination attempt on Bran in GoT and then the knife that Arya used to kill the Night King to some massive heirloom tracing all the way back to Aegon the Conqueror.

I also think the cast of HotD is really lacking. GoT had one of the most colorful and diverse cast of characters I've seen in a television series aside from something completely colossal such as One Piece. In HotD I don't really have a favorite character, not because I hate all of them, but more so because the vast majority of people in the show are so bland and basic. Daemon Targaryen (played by Matt Smith) is cool sometimes but most of the time he's just an edgelord who always does the most morally questionable thing possible to impress Rhaenyra and annoy his enemies. This however becomes very predictable after a time and he too, fades into the background. Prince Aemond "One-Eye" (played by Ewan Mitchell) is also definitely a likable asshole type character, but he just isn't around enough. I've seen some call it a Soap Opera with dragons and I'm ashamed to say I agree.

I do not hate the show. It is visually stunning at times and the dragons at least look cool, although the show majorly screwed up the scaling for the dragons. Pretty much every dragon in the show is the same size even though some are vastly older then others, aside from Vhagar who must have been fed a unique diet of whale-class growth hormones and elephant steroids.

I am fairly certain that when season 2 comes out there's going to be an even more massive wave of praise for the show now that The Dance of the Dragons has well and truly started. But I feel like a lot could've been done to improve its opening. I will watch season 2, but not with any big expectations.

House of the Dragon, but is it any good, or is it just something people watch so they have something to talk about?

Its not very good. The show struggles, and the actors seem to lack confidence, with very few strong performances. It carries the vibe of one of those cheap British soap operas, only without the drama. Weak acting, dull dialogue, and some poor direction.

In the opening episode, a noble and his guard commit atrocities in a town square, in the final shot the noble raises his longsword intending to kill a man who is being held down by foot soldiers. The trouble is that had the sword actually swung as it did, it would have also likely removed the arms of both men holding the victim in place, but the next shot shows a severed head. This struck me as careless direction, and frankly that attitude permeates throughout the show. The actors seem to either lack range or they are on auto pilot, assured that the show is already a success on the back of its name. Which seems to actually be true if one looks at the many gushing reviews.

I found it to be dull and lacklustre, certainly not worthy of the press it gets online. Struggled to finish the first episode. The original show also started slow but soon found its footing after a few episodes, particularly with the death of Ned Starck, it's possible that this show will also grow into itself, but it does not look promising, especially since there are few secrets about the world after the first series - such as the white walkers ect.

A disappointment. 5 stars.

I am a massive fan of the world of Westeros. My love of this world began with the original Game of Thrones TV show. I watched it, loved it, and then read all the books before the show caught up to the book's storyline and eventually went passed it. Long story short, I love the books, I kinda half hate the OG show for screwing up the conclusion so dramatically. Which is why I was not looking forward to this series when I heard it announced.

I was sure it was gonna be a cash grab, cynical slog at the same quality as the final season of thrones but... I was wrong. Very wrong.

This show is fantastic. Respect to those who dislike it, I'll just say that for me, this is everything I wanted and more from a show about Westeros.

I love this story. I love the themes of Duty vs Freedom and the conflict between those values. I LOVE the characters and their conflicts, flaws, personal histories and motivations. I love Viserys and Daemon and Raenyra and Alicent, Otto, and Christen, and Aemond, Aegon, and all the rest. There's so many characters to enjoy and each one is compelling in their own way.

Also, can we all at least recognize that this is far and away the best produced fantasy television series of all time? The sets are unbelievable, the costumes are gorgeous, the cinematography is stunning, the props, the makeup, the VFX, EVERYTHING is firing on all cylinders.

My only criticisms are that the time jumps are handled somewhat clumsily in terms of casting and characters develop off screen more than they should. And I thought it was stupid when Rhaenys killed all those people in episode 9 and then didn't kill her literal enemies who imprisoned and threatened her because she "didn't want to start something".

There are minor gripes I could flesh out, but why would I when the show offers far more in the way of enjoyable and downright addictive television?

I watched every episode as they came out and plan to do the same for season 2.

If you don't want any spoilers at all, do not read any further.

But if you are one of the Game of Thrones fans who despised seeing Daenerys killed, you might not want to get invested in the character of Princess Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon. She is headed for an even worse fate.

Be warned that if they stick to the original book, which seems likely, Princess Rhaenyra will suffer an extremely grizzly, violent and repulsive death.

Hopefully, they will keep the gory details to a minimum. But if not, you probably won't want to watch what happens to her after she is captured by her sadistic half-brother Aegon .

I really really enjoyed this show and loved all the lore we got. The actors were, in my opinion, cast really well and did a great job. However, I think the big time jumps lost were not the way to go. It distanced me a lot from the characters and any events I was expecting in my head. At first the forbidden and more or less secret admiration between Rhaenyra and Daemon is such a big thing and we get Rhaenyra being extra bold when asking Daemon to take her to Dragonstone and then suddenly we skip ten years. Oh and then suddenly they are married with kids. I really really would have loved to see their relationship develop further and what others think of it and the wedding and and and... time to read some fix-it fan fiction I guess.

I'm four episodes in and I can say I don't feel strongly about this show. I was huge fan of GoT, but disappointed with the way it ended, so I was not really excited when they announced this show.

So far, it hasn't been that great. This takes place about 170ish years before the events of GoT, so we see what a Targaryean ruled Westeros is like. The plot so far heavily revolves around a looming war of succession between multiple Targaryeans. It's basically a soap opera, with a lot of double dealing and backstabbing going on.

One thing that really annoyed me was that they try to link it the original series by connecting the Targaryean rule to the prophecy in GoT. This makes little sense, and was clearly done as a cheap tie-in with little thought behind it. The worst part is, it's just a painful reminder of the way GoT ended, and how disappointing the whole "prophecy" thing was (not to mention a red herring) and how underwhelming the white walker invasion was after years of build up.

That brings me to my final complaint, in that there's no real compelling antagonists or protagonists here. We have a bunch of unlikeable characters vying for the throne, but all of them are pretty horrible. There's no Jon Snow or Tyrion Lannister, and after episode 4, it looks like Rhaenrys has more in common to Cersei than Daenerys. There is no one to root for, and no existential threat beyond the wall or from anywhere else. It's just palace intrigues and plots within plots.

Enjoyable for those like soap operas, with a little T&A and some brutal violence, with the occassional dragon thrown in. High production value for sure, and the end of episode three had a pretty cool battle scene. But this isn't the type of show you get obsessed with like GoT was.

The series seems to be the most influential derivative in the world, and its concepts combined and integrated in the writing seem unusually strong, and the application of events, the course of events, and the political escalation are unparalleled, and the CGI was very beautiful, and in episode 2 it was a review of the CGI, photography, and the series HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. It literally revived the hope and passion of everyone who was disappointed by the end of Game of Thrones. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON is more than a derivative series. It is a revival of the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. I give it a rating of 10/10 because it deserves that.

This show will not have a bad ending. It's already been written and trust me they stick it. So people need not worry about that.

As we go into season 2 we are geared up for war and will be in war for the remained of this show and it's going to be epic. I read Fire and Blood years ago so I know what's coming and I can't wait. They have already proven that they can handle war on this show and we are about to get one of the better shows of the next 5 years.

The first season was basically set up. The first 5 episodes especially. They throw a lot at you and a bunch of characters that you need to know and it's overwhelming. My advice watch it multiple times and you will have the layout and the players for the entire series. The show doesn't really start until after the first 5 episodes. Once everyone is grown that's where it begins and they ended right when the war really starts. Everything before that was just flexing and prodding. Once her son went down protecting the realm went out the window and she became the rage of her family name and it's about revenge. Buckle up people this show is only beginning to stretch its wings!!

However good "House Of The Dragon" might be, it still remains a couple of notches below "Game Of Thrones" at its prime (not counting that show's twist ending just for the sake of it). However, "House of The Dragón" is taking its time building tension up. In this second episode, which maintains a slow pace, it shows us the death of an innocent child. We witness (off camera) the killing of King Aegis's firstborn child, in revenge for Aemond killing "accidentally" Queen Rhaenyra's son in a dragon bully fight in mid air. What I disliked about this episode is that Queen Rhaenyra's silence over her son's death at the hand's of Aemond, whether it was an accident or not is truly baffling. She remains mournful through the first two episode, but her uncle/husband Daemon Targaryen (who was bypassed by his father, king Viserys, as his successor in the iron throne, granting her daughter Rhaenyra that post), takes matters into his own hands and orders the slaying of Aemon's firstborn, to which Rhaenyra completely disapproves. Daemon (played by Matt Smith to perfection) is a wild card here. While it seems to be a falling out between him and his wife/niece, I believe he will remain loyal to his queen, even though he will do the things necessary for his wife to be the real ruler in Westeros.

The series favors the drama and scheming that made the first seasons of "Game Of Thrones" so appealing, yet it's hard for me to actually root for anybody. In the original series, you had great characters like the noble Ned Stark and his family, the frustrated and full of hatred Cersei, her brother/lover who is a certified a$&@le Jamie, and many more intricate and well rounded characters, something that "House Of The Dragon" Sorely misses. The first season was huge, shutting up Game Of Thrones infidels and managing to bring them back to support the new spin off prequel. Yet, if things continue to move at a snail's space and don't define their characters, I don't see "House of The Dragon" going past 3 seasons. And by saying "snail pace" I don't mean seeing blood, sex, dragons and violence in every frame. I just want a more cohesive story telling, that's all I want. And yes: more of Matt Smith's incredible character, who is by far the most interesting character in the show, more so than Queen Rhaenyra.

I must confess, the first 5 series were okeish (we had enough of scenes to make jokes about, while still the show was not completely lost and kind of entertaining). But.....starting from the episode 6 we can't even make jokes anymore. The scenes are so slow and boring, the dialogues are not dialogues but just staring scenes. And there is even a bigger disappointment: What happened to the wild and rebellious Rhaenyra? She was shown as a promising character, that she is there for something bigger, she talks to mother and says she does not want to give a birth.. she want to fly a dragon and may be to change the order of the realm (oh oh!) and become a first woman ruler. Intrigue! The next episode: years passed...she gives a birth..years pass again.. she gives a birth to what..6th child? And she does not make anything else. She is shown as a MOTHER without no other interested. This really makes me sad.. The only thing this character is missing to take all my hope from this life is to show how she and Daemon discuss mortgage and bills..(I am ok with having kids, but man.. does it have to end up with all your dreams and make you sooo boring and kill your character?) another mind blowing "twist"was with Alicent: "ooh she wears green! Hightowers wear green when they announce war." Intrigue! Next episode: X amount of years passed... she also has a lot of children. Wow! That was a shocking revenge indeed.

I better watch my cat.

Here after watching today's finale of season 1. Wow gotta say what a wild ride it was. I haven't watched a good television in years. The whole plot is even million times ahead of season 1 of GOT. Writing of even conversation scenes are so well written, characters being three dimensional and their well defined motivations, amazing soundtrack specially in last 2 episodes. Loved paddy as viserys, his acting was so good and how he portraed an old man who was just there to keep the realm in peace. His last day specially was so sad but badass at the same time. Loved daemon, some people didn't like too much time skip but I thought it was handled really well and hats off to the casting team too because it remained consistent throughout show. Everyone played their part well, miley was good as young rheneyrya and although I was hesitant watching emmy, she also knocked ball out of park as older rheneyrya. The stakes that were building towards the end of the episode where they showed to let the dance of the dragon begin gave goosebumps. Please bring these same showrunners and crew for season 2 as well because I couldn't find a single problem out of this show. Honorable mentions of other great characters are otto hightower, alicent, aegon, aemond, rheyneys, coryles. I never thought I would like to watch any show after GOT and I was more interested toward the long night show which was cancelled but I'm glad this show was made and I'm truly excited to watch next season probably coming around 2024.

WHY THE FFF DID THEY CHANGE THE ACTORS... -__-" I was just starting to like Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra.

She did a good job. The new actor has a whole different personality. You can't just replace actors like that and pick completely different people with different acting styles TwT

Seriously dissapointed by this.

She doesnt look the same. And the whole tension between the previous charachters is gone. As if I'm watching a new show.. They could have made Milly Alcock and Emily Carey look older, just as they did with the actor playing Viserys.. And the rest of the cast didn't even age... like they seriously doing this. Who ever thought this would be a good idea.

I rate the first and last three episodes an 8. The rest varying between 6 and 7.

The overall season was let down by having only one storyline as opposed to GOT's multiple. There's also a lack of a range of characters. This is about a bunch of entitled rich people colluding for ultimate power. There's really no one worthy of our compassion and certainly no one that we can relate to. It was humorless as well.

With GOT we had a huge diverse mix of characters from all walks of life. From royalty to peasants, soldiers, librarians, religious people, a vast mix. There's none of that here.

The only way the two series are on equal footing is the look. And so it should look great for a ridiculous 20 million per episode.

The interjections of sudden violence have become tropes. As is the shock value. (How many violent births did we see? It was its own cliché by season's end).

The time jump and change of characters was abrupt but it was possible to go along with the new characters, but it did lose a lot of momentum rather than escalating it.

It's really got a long way to go to be even compared with its predecessor.

You knew most reviews were going to be 10 or 1 just because of it being a GOT linked show, people will either automatically love it because their a fan or give it no real chance and complain about every little thing.

I know it's easy to compare but I just tried to watch it as a new show whilst enjoying things that are familiar and also new.

One argument I've seen is the "woke" casting, I understand that logic so many times in so many shows, however I only see it as an issue if the person playing the role is bad, if they do a good job then I don't think it matters at all. If it's bad performance and also cast for the wrong reason then it creates the new age arguments, for me I thought he was good and also the white hair with the skin tone for me looked class.

The young girl is awesome! Although I couldn't tell if the friendship with the other girl is plutonic or a little more but I actually don't have an issue with stuff as long as it's done well, she for me is a star, saw her in that tim minchin show and she's just brilliant. The rest on the whole were decent at the worst, my one thing is, I don't love established actors in roles in these kinda shows, new actors or up and comers, I didn't even recognise Rhys for ages. I'm not a Matt smith fan, don't enjoy him at all, his voice irritates and his look for me just isn't something that appeals for me. However I actually thought he was alright. Just wish that kinda role could showcase a new actor.

The story was slow but was always going to be, it had to introduce a lot, I actually felt it rushed through the heir bit to get that angle going but it all worked ok, seen complaints about the pregnancy scene, unsure why, with technology and lack of medical stuff they had then, I can't see that as anything other than realistic, i don't agree marking stuff down because you don't want to see something and not because it was done badly.

The dragons didn't look far different from memory but I didn't notice anything aesthetically that stood out as bad, it didn't feel as polished as later in GOT but I'm unsure of budget. If I compared it to early GOT it looks better so it's 50/50.

It did enough to intrigue me, It's very easy to forget a lot of shows don't get going for a couple of episodes when they have a lot to establish but I don't think this was a bad episode 1, my only kinda thing was not having a bit more side plots with other characters but there's not the most time in one episode.

I'm interested to see where it goes, the king doesn't have the best presence on screen and I don't foresee him lasting that long with the heir being the big plot point. I did get similar vibes of Robert from him as in dying early. And princess gave me Arya vibes to.

Overall not too bad, it had a tough act to follow but if you didn't see GOT and watched the first episodes of each I'd say this one was probably better looking but the content is vastly different and for me not comparable.

Only thing I felt it lacked which I can't really moan about as it was a GOT thing, I miss the comic relief of Tyrian style character.

As a political fantasy drama its not bad. A sort of Shakespeare-lite with dragons. The fact that makes it underwhelming is that we just dont care about these characters. They all get introduced one after the other in a big info dump. Immediately after all sort of terrible things happen, one after the other. Yes the death in child birth is tragic, but we barely know this woman. Yes , we can see this is a pretty terrible situation for the king, but we dont know him that well either, we dont even know we like him so do we feel sorry for him or what? The thing is, the first season of Game of Thrones got us heavily invested in the characters, thats why the beheading of Ned Stark just hurt so bad... We were all rooting for him: "You fool, just get your men and go for it.... Dont trust that b.... Cersei!!!" In House of the Dragon is just feels rushed and therefore it falls flat.

The only remotely interesting character is that of Matt Smith, Daemon Targaryen. Its not completely clear what his character and personality are. Is he really a tyrant? Or is he a victim of a political game designed by the Hand of the King, who perhaps much rather has a weak king in place so he can rule in all but name? Its what makes the show watchable (just) but its hardly deep or original.

The show feels very stale. The genious of Game of Thrones is that they tied the characters to specifuc locations which were all very different. The visuals aid the very complicated plot. The frosty north, the Meditarranean Kings Landing and the plains and deserts of the oversees lands. They could have done this with House of the Dragon too. The "Oldtown" faction could have actually played in Oldtown. Its a very iconic city from the books that they could have used to break it up and place different characters in different settings to distinguish themselves. For me all these beautiful and fantastical locations is what made the show. This was just people having conversations in a palace with just a dragon and a tournament thrown in there to break it up.

The whole point of Game of Thrones (And A Song of Ice and Fire) is that we got to explore the world through the eyes of the main characters: We got to explore the North, The Nights Watch and The Wall through the eyes of Jon Snow. We got to experience the intrigue of the court through the eyes of Tyrion and in a very different way through Sansa Stark. We got to experience how it is to be down and out and having to fight for every crumb through Arya Stark, and of course the ways of the nomadic Dothraki and exotic slave trader cities through Daenerys. So it was never about these people, it was about the world in which they lived. That feeling was completely absent for me in the first episode of House of the Dragon. It was a very static and very conservative "palace drama" that could have been anywhere and anytime, it wasnt even fantasy apart from the dragon that was just trown in there and did absolutely nothing for the story.

Acting is a bit hit and miss too. Matt Smith and Paddy Considine are great and already knew and love them from many other good shows, the rest however is completely forgettable. Especially the "new Daenerys" (already forgot her name tbh) was completely forgettable, but dont blame the actress per se as she had very little to work with. All in all, it was entertaining though. Good production value, good acting here and there and its just great to be able to visit The Seven kingdoms again... They just could have done a great deal more with all the material this IP can provide.

Imagine Game of Thrones without Tyrion, Jamie, Cersei, Joffrey, Daenerys, Arya, Sandor and many more. Kind of dull right? Well this is The House of the Dragon.

Apart from Daemon which is mildly interesting, there is not one character that I care for. They are all insipid, too serious, depressing. I was hoping that in the second episode we would be shown some of the other houses and their members, but no. We are stuck with this soap opera family we don't care about.

This show does not deserve the same intro theme as Game of Thrones. It's just bad spinoff.

I would have go over the fact that the characters are dull if at least the story was good. But it's about a guy thinking if he should marry or not.

With wonderful acting and compelling characters but it was also complex. This show feels like its just trying to rush through some plot. GoT had multiple characters that you felt deeply for, both loving and hating. None of these characters have deep substance. Additionally we aren't following the grand and unique stories of several characters and anxiously awaiting to see how they collide. We are watching a single plot seem to race towards the end. This is visually beautiful but there is no emotional connection beyond hoping to see a glimpse of the connection to GoT.

I'm very disappointed and I hope that next time a spinoff is made they take their time crafting the characters and the plot and less time pandering to the perceived desires of the audience.

"House of the Dragon," the much-anticipated prequel to "Game of Thrones," takes viewers on a gripping journey through the tumultuous history of House Targaryen. Set centuries before the events of its predecessor, the series delves into the rise of the dragonlords and the seeds of the infamous Targaryen civil war.

The show is visually stunning, with elaborate set designs and breathtaking cinematography that captures the fantastical world of Westeros. The dragons, a central element of Targaryen lore, are brought to life with impressive CGI, adding a layer of awe to the narrative. The series successfully maintains the high production standards set by "Game of Thrones."

The ensemble cast, led by Paddy Considine as King Viserys I, delivers strong performances. Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith shine as Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon, respectively, portraying the complex dynamics within the Targaryen family. The characters are well-developed, each with their own ambitions, flaws, and moral dilemmas, making them intriguing to follow.

The narrative weaves political intrigue, familial conflicts, and epic battles seamlessly. It explores themes of power, loyalty, and the consequences of wielding it. While some may find the pacing a bit uneven, especially in the early episodes, the intricate plot eventually finds its rhythm.

"House of the Dragon" successfully captures the essence of George R. R. Martin's world, offering both familiar elements for "Game of Thrones" fans and a fresh perspective for newcomers. The series does not shy away from the grittiness and unpredictability that made its predecessor a cultural phenomenon.

In conclusion, "House of the Dragon" stands as a worthy successor to "Game of Thrones." With its compelling characters, impressive visuals, and intricate storytelling, it proves to be a captivating journey into the history of Westeros. Fans of the original series and fantasy enthusiasts alike will find much to enjoy in this epic prequel.

In over 10 hours of content nothing happens. We see the same scenes repeated over and over again simply with different characters and or the same at different ages.

Scene type 1 - "You must remember your duty"

Scene type 2 - "We're going to threaten each other without any actual consequences or actions taking place"

Scene type 3 - Throne room discussion/ mini slaughter/F'ing about.

Scene type 4 - Stand in the middle of the bridge near Dragon stone and discuss with/threaten each other.

Scene type 5 - Insignificant scene that pretends to be character development but ultimately means absolutely nothing. ( for example Larys Strong foot fetish scene, like wtf does this add? We already know he's an evil s**t cus they keeping hammering it into you like a rusty broken nail, for the small amount of screen time he actually has)

These scenes repeated from EP1 - EP10 over and over again.

House of the Dragon wishes you to believe something important is happening or going to happen but by the end it's simply no more than continuous setup and that's being generous. I was waiting for something actually important to happen and it never did. Scenes were included which amount to nothing while scenes which could have been interesting like Damon's adventures with the Triarchy or some actual character development simply don't appear, for some bewildering reason.

Who am I supposed to root for here? Every character (except perhaps Paddy Considine's, not due to good writing tho) is a horrible, fickle, uninteresting mess and don't hold even a speck of light to GoT's roster of clearly defined, developed and likable and unlikable characters, each and everyone is fully rounded and fleshed out, even the small appearances have more character than any that appear here.

I can't imagine how boring this series must have been to read and perform for all the actors involved. Turn up to set do the same scenes you did yesterday and the day before again and again, and it shows, everyone looks bored af.

Locations and world-building are non-existent, again repeating the same sets and locals over and over with nothing new or interesting we haven't already seen depicted much better in GoT.

And they even include stupid dialogue eluding to the White Walkers which is totally irrelevant as it won't happen for over 100 years in their time, why on earth even mention it? It's has nothing to do with the "Story" and has already been concluded whether you believe it was done well or not it is not this shows job to make up for it.

The music despite being composed by the same person is boring, forgettable and lazy. They didn't even bother to come up with a new theme. Like what? There's one motif that stands out which is used every now and then over scenes without any coherence or thematic consistency, the rest is completely drab.

Just a lazy, boring, uneventful see-through parody of Game of Thrones. Something better actually happen in series 2 because if it doesn't then this entire franchise has no reason to exist.

I want to love this. I realllllly want to love this series. I convinced myself I was loving it ep1-3. But as you sit back and actually review what that have produced thus far, 5 eps in... It is nothing more than a melodrama set in the world of GOT. There are maybe... 5 characters and the rest are extras.

Plots are being set up, not by clever writing but by stupid, obvious, out of character mistakes by the characters that had half an episode build up.

Sir C telling the Queen. Dumb.

Daemons wife in the Vale seemed like an excellent interesting character.... Killed off screen after 5min.

Daemon getting with Rhaenra. Out of no where.

Really disappointed... Everything we hated about season 8... Is happening here.

In the beginning of the season, the show captivated me with nostalgia for Game of Thrones. However, as the show went on, many flaws became too apparent. By last few episodes, I was becoming annoyed, and here's why.

1. There are too many scenes of talking, people lying on beds, taking long pauses, giving long meaningful stares to each other, etc. I understand it's meant to advance the plot, but there was way too much of just sitting in castles and talking, but not actually anything happening.

2. I longed for an adventure, but never got it. GoT was best for its adventuring characters. Travelling through the wilderness, encountering all sorts of things. House of Dragon is literally about people sitting inside castles and talking 90% of the time.

3. Change of actors in season 6 made no sense. Some actors remained, like Cole, who did not age one bit and stayed 20 years old. Others changed as people (which totally ruined my immersion and character development). While the King himself was one who was put make up on to look older. Question is, why didn't they do what they did with the King with the others? And if you will change actors, then why not be consistent and make everyone look equally older. Cole literally stayed the same age while everyone else aged, it was just so poorly done.

4. Not enough action and excitement. A lot of boring scenes of talking that took up too much time. Of course you need dialogue scenes, but there were just too many in comparison to action/interesting scenes.

5. Long and drawn out on purpose, to fill time and make it to one hour. It became apparent that they're basically purposely making the show longer to meet the one hour quota. This should have been done in half a season, but they milked it to the maximum.

6. Predictable. I was able to predict things very well, which is not good. There should be surprise.

Overall: not very exciting. Boring show. But I continue to watch because the good things about the show keep me interested: I love the fantasy world of RR martin, I love dragons, I love medieval times, I love how violent and brutal medieval times are depicted here, I love how there's constant evil vs good fighting, and constant human emotions being played with. So I will keep watching. But my god, it bored me at times to the point of annoyance.

This show consistently falls flat episode after episode. They are obsessed over one aspect of the plot and none of the others that support the storyline. It's just... flat. They are taking parellels from GoT, naturally, but not using that nostalgia people love effectively. It's just flat.

There's a lot of gaps in making connections for the audience. Aegon married his sister? Wasn't clear. Doesn't clearly show how ridiculous Alicent behaved finding out Rhenerya "slept" with her uncle.

The Seasnake just up and leaves his family for years without us seeing that or any build up? Y'all ran out of time that fast? The pacing is a mess.

Another example of holes, in the funeral scene for the child, everyone is present and bows except her two children with Daemon. Where are they? Why aren't they there? Did the creators run out of budget for child extras? There's several moments of this in every episode.

Matt Smith and Emma have no chemistry. Don't even seem to like each other. I think this is the fault of the writers and directors. She miscarried and he didn't act remotely remorseful? Didn't go to her to comfort her? A joke. Terrible writing.

The dialogue itself is plain. I've read better fanfics. At least this isn't a 10 just to disappoint later. Please improve this show.

Note: I will review this show episode by episode, with a short paragraph or so about each episode as I finish it. The overall rating I give to the show will change with each episode I watch and a final verdict being given as I complete the currently 1 available season.

I do however strongly disagree with the race swaps that was done for the actors/actresses playing the Velaryons. The Velaryons like the Targaryens come from Valyria though are not dragon riders. The Targaryens and Velaryons aka Valyrians are described as white of hair and pale of skin in the books and as someone who likes a accurate adaptation of books. Though thankfully even these Velaryons still do have white hair. Anyway onto the review!

Episode 1 - 8,5/10: A strong start to the show. We are introduced to the main characters that make up the Dance Of Dragons and are given our first looks at the people who will form the Greens and the Blacks.

The casting for the most part seems to have been done quiet well with Matt Smith, Paddy Considine and Milly Alcock as King Viserys, Prince Daemon and Princess Rhaenyra respectively. We also get a first look at Syrax and Caraxes and the episode starts to setup for the coming Targaryen civil war.

I will however criticize the Aegon Targaryen prophecy about the night game which was not in the books and seems added in purely to make a connection to the Game Of Thrones series and serves as a reminder to the absolute failure the dreaded Night King and long dark was; also known as S8 of Game Of Thrones.

Episode 2 - 9/10: A very interesting episode, Daemon is at heads with his brother King Viserys, The Velaryons of Driftmark have been snubbed in favour of the Hightowers of Oldtown and Rhaenyra is trying her best to prove to her father that she will make a strong queen. Unfortunately Viserys is being led down the wrong path by his hand Otto Hightower who wants to see a grandchild of his sit the Iron Throne.

Daemon was right last episode when he said the small council all try to sway the king in their own direction while he would stand by his brothers side and protect him. I do think Daemon would also be playing his own game but I also don't believe that Daemon would betray his brother or kill his niece for the throne. Anyway good episode I really liked it and onto the next one!

Episode 3 - 8/10: A solid episode, especially the ending when we get to see Daemon at war on the step-stones. He couldn't take it the past 3 years but soon as he hears his brother is sending help he takes it the very next minute. Rhaenyra finally gets to pick her own husband though Viserys is looking worse and worse with the whispers coming in from every direction. The only truly solid advice he got was from Lord Strong.

Episode 4 - 7/10: Rhaenyra is a Princess or the realm and heir to the Iron Throne however she is very stubborn and doesn't always make the best decisions. Some of her earlier actions like getting the dragons egg back from Daemon without bloodshed while dangerous was calculated and well executed on her part.

However sleeping with her Kings Guard was definitely not a smart move. Knowing what happens next if the series follows the books... all I can say is her kids may ride dragons or wyverns because you know House Of The Dragon only actually has Wyverns😂. But they are not true Targaryens and no one with half a braincell is going to believe Daemon or Laenor is the father when they all have black hair...

Anyhow, besides that good episode. Viserys got rid of Otto Hightower at Rhaenyra's urging and I only wish that Rhaenyra took the tea the maester made for her at her fathers urging, unfortunately we all know she ends up with 3 (Not True Born Sons), off who I'm not sure.

Episode 5 - 8/10: Things are moving fast, Rhaenyra is to be married to her gay cousin. The king is not looking well and the queen has found out about Rhaenyra's fling with her sworn protector. A good episode, things will soon come to a head and the blacks and greens shall clash. Daemon also got rid of his wife, poor girl. She was quiet pretty and would be a warrior at his side if only they loved one another. Anyway looking forward to episode 6, this episode certainly did a lot of world building and got things to where they needed to be. Plus that was one eventful wedding I got to say.

Episode 6 - 8,5/10: A very interesting start with the time-skip to Rhaenyra giving birth to her third and final (Not True Born) son. Very interesting stuff indeed, Ser Harwin being the baby daddy. Viserys refusing to believe it, His hand offering his resignation. Just full of happenings at court this episode was. It's gearing up for the outbreak of the dance of dragons. Seeing Laena dying though was very sad, she still riding Vhagar would have made a massive difference in the fighting rather then having the greens getting their hands on the strongest dragon around. Also really like the older version of Rhaenyra.

Episode 7 - 8/10: The sides are starting to form, Rhaenyra and Daemon are married and both their spouses the Velaryon siblings are dead. Though unlike in the books Laenor's death in the show is faked and not real. Solid episode, The greens also got Vhagar now. Without Vhagar it would be an easy black victory even if all the great houses sided with the greens.

Episode 8 - 8/10: The king does not have long left, The greens and the blacks are preparing for whats to come. Viserys get's to see his family together one last time. Unfortunately this is the beginning of the end for House Targaryen as nearly all their dragons will die during the dance and much Targaryen blood will be spilled.

Episode 9 - 6/10: The absolute ridiculousness of Viserys last word to add some legitimacy to the greens side, added in for the benefit of the show. We all know the blacks are correct and should lead and the dance of the dragons should never have happened if not for the Hightowers greed. Add Lord Strong's foot fetish into the mix and we have a truly weird episode. Besides this a good episode in all other accounts. Though Princess Rhaenys could have solved everything if she had said but one word, "Dracarys" and roasted the greens alive at Aegon's coronation.

Episode 10 - 10/10: What a ending to the episode! The greens and the blacks are at war, blood has been spilt as one of Rhaenyra's sons was torn into pieces by Vhagar. There is no going back from this and season 2 will be war! What an ending to season 1, I cannot wait to see the Hightower/Targaryen line wiped out so the true Targaryen line minus Rhaenyra's (Not True Born Sons) can continue to rule. The only sad part is there won't be much dragons left either and with it withers House Targaryen's power.

Overall a solid 8/10 from me for now!

The first episode takes us only in Kings Landing court where tragedy strikes: the king elected years ago is now in the situation to choose: his wife or his unborn son. But he s option fails as the son lives just for a day. He names his daughter as next queen despite his previous intent to name his young brother. The young prince is a warior, unsatidfied with his life, with being send to remote land. The conflict is about to start as the court swears oath to the soon the be queen The production. The dialog, the actors are just as good as those from Game of Thrones.

The only surprise for me is the oral message every Targeryan king or queen transmits only to his chosen prince or princess: Aegon had the premonition about the long night and this was one of the reasons he took Westeros.

If Game of thrones had any greatest flaw, it was pacing. The botched 8th season was caused mostly by trying to wrap up all the story lines with too little time to do them properly. House of the Dragon seems to have learned nothing from this. If anything, they spend the majority of the first season talking politics, like they had to do a long drawn out nit of world building before they could get to all the fun. World building being defined as 80% stationary people talking about politics, 10% gratuitous people with no clothes on, and 10% actually interesting things happening. The apparently did go to the HBO seminar on Sexposition- where when one has a tedious bit of plot line to get through, have naked people doing it, so the folks with short attention spans can have some boobies and buttocks to look at.

The whole of the first season was wasted as preamble to what will supposedly happen in season 2. It could have been run though easily in 3 episodes, if you cut out all the pregnant pauses and lengthy shots of atmosphere. At this rate, they may.spend the next 3 seasons talking about what to do, and the actual war of succession will be the last episode of the last season.

The first season was very strong and the strongest episode I saw in the eighth episode , and Viserys presented the character in a very great way

"

And I liked the last fight that was between the dragons in the ten episode . The visual effects were strong , and each episode was stronger than the second. Damon fight shocked me at the end of the third episode.

"

I liked Amond courage when he let Vigar serve him, and his sister shocked me. She said that he wouldn't take a dragon without taking his eye, and the son of Rhaenyra took Amond eye.

"

I was shocked by the death of Viserys and the coup of Alicent against Rhaenyra , and she took the Iron Throne of her son Aegon.

I watched the first episode of the House of the Dragon and I found this series to be rather boring. However, I kept on watching this series and I am now loving it.

Rhaenyra is a true DIVA and she doesn't care what most think of her with the exception of her deceitful stepmother, Queen, Alicent Hightower.

The Velaryon family were the first to control Dragons using magic, and rode dragons for a millennia. It was interesting to find out, Laenor Velaryon is gay and he has to marry Rhaenyra. I knew they had to throw in some type of homosexual character, however, homosexuality goes back to the days of Sodom & Gomorrah.

I am glad to know, Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke will officially make their debut as the adult versions of the lead characters in House of the Dragon in episode 6. John MacMillian will play the adult Laenor Velaryon. I felt the younger characters were too young to play some of the sexual scene. Now as adults, anything goes. I can't wait to see the House of the Dragon weekly on HBO-Max. Episodes premiere early on HBO-Max than HBO. I am glad, I have both to watch on my new 2022 Samsung S95B OLED 4K 65 inch Smart Television. LOL.

The visual quality and Budget from the later seasons of the original series + the writing quality/ good casting of the first sesons. This sounds like a good combination and the executing from the showrunners deliverd. Even thoug I read the book on which this prequel is based I was on the edge on my seat every Episode on how it is going to turn out.

It is not 10 Stars however beacuse you cant be perfect on every aspect, for example after the death of Deamonds original wife Leana Verlarion the Scene where he Shows is affections for at least his twin doughters got cut out of ther Version we saw and just got leaked on the Internet. It would have been nice to see this for his caracter and the ones of his kids.

But that is just a small drop of water on an very hot stone of good writing/acting/special effects.( in perticular on the dragons)

I like this series a lot but one thing that bother me and ruin the experience is the re-cast, trying to fit the characters aging better to the events. I think the feeling you get for the characters diminish a lot when doing this and I dont see any benefits. Also they hand picked what characters that was re casted so I mean true to the series Cristan Cole didnt age a bit in 10 years. Why didnt they do make up or hair like they did to the King if they wanted the cast to look aged, and still be able to use the same cast that we got attached too. Shame because now its starting to happen things and the build up is done but all the sudden some main characters as well.

I've been cautiously optimistic about HBO's House of the Dragon for a while now. With good writing and George R. R. Martin's significant involvement, it wouldn't really matter if people were soured on the ending of Game of Thrones; this show still had the potential to deliver some of the GoT excellence the show was known for. In HotD's first episode "The Heirs of the Dragon," the series has already laid the groundwork for that excellence with perhaps the best first hour of television I could have asked for.

People worried about the pre-release stills need not have. The characters look wonderful, the sets look beautiful, and the world already looks lived in and real. Creator Ryan J. Condal does a fine job setting up the conflict and the major players we will see in it this season. Veteran Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik delivers strikingly beautiful and at times brutal scenes. He's known for his epic action set pieces such as those in "Battle of the B*stards" and "Hardhome" but also in this episode he proves to be an expert at crafting subtle and tense political intrigue between some already interesting and complex characters.

In one episode Condal and Sapochnik have already created a compelling ensemble and virtually the entire cast deliver great performances. I have to give props to Paddy Considine and Matt Smith, but Rhys Ifans' portrayal of Otto Hightower might be my sleeper favorite. Milly Alcock and Emily Carey are great as the Hand's daughter and the Princess and heir, respectively. I already want to see more of the two father-daughter relationships they've established here early. Finally, I have to give credit to guest star Sian Brooke for her heartbreaking performance as the Queen consort. Her child birthing scene juxtaposed with the brutal jousting and fighting at the Hand's tourney made for some of the most chilling moments we've seen yet in the Game of Thrones universe.

I know this review is long, but I just have so much to say already, and I'll end with this: Of all the things we got to enjoy in this first episode, the big reveal of the now-confirmed fan theory of the Song of Ice and Fire has to be the biggest. The knowledge that Targaryen kings pass down the secret of Aegon the Conqueror's vision of the Doom of Man, foretelling the White Walkers and The Long Night, has huge implications not only for this show but certainly for GRRM's book series as well (if he ever gets around to finishing them). This reveal gives the future of the Targaryen dynasty an even more foreboding outlook; this secret has been passed down the line of succession, but the civil war, betrayal, and thirst for power that is sure to come puts this most important knowledge in danger. It almost makes it even more of a shame knowing how Game of Thrones ultimately handled its resolution, but for how good of a start "Heirs of the Dragon" was, maybe it doesn't matter so much. Either way, House of the Dragon is shaping up to be a most compelling tale of violence and tragedy that serves to expand the world of Westeros to a new level. Strap in.

I think overall this show is great. Good acting, good characters. I'm glad that they now settled in a timeline so we can get more character development in season 2. I like the build up, while it is slow and may bore some, I think it's cool to see how actions taken over several years slowly and steady leads up to what seems from the finale, a great war in season 2. My only complaint is that the cgi looks very off from time to time, especially the close ups of when they're riding the dragons. The green/blue screen is too obvious and it takes away from the feeling, power and intensity of some scenes. I hope they fix this for season 2.

It seems a little bit stupid to miss up a clear description of how prince aemond targaryan looks like.

Even Daemon told the two rats that he has one eye with a big scar.

And they still missed up on such an easy description and none of them recalled that important info is and what could happen to them if they didn't get the right person killed, and not from any family; it's the royal family.

I Don't know this thing alone made me finish the episode with a straight face rather than satisfied.

The rest of the episode is great though.

Great scenes and nice cgi compared to the last season.

Also great actors as of now.

There was a moment in Episode 8 that really hit me in the heart. As a father the tears of your daughter crying out for your help Will literally make you fight off death. When the doors opened it was a deeply emotional moment and powerful expression of love. No matter what our children do we will love them and try to protect them until our last breath. It was a combination of his greatly deteriorating health when we see him at the beginning of the episode. The masterful performance by Considine of the constant pain both emotional and physical. The realization of a final desperate attempt to make his mark on his family was fantastically captured.

As a standalone series this is good if not the best but it is not Game of Thrones. Since this is from the same world it is obvious that we compare. GOT S1 vs HOTD S1. From the very first episode GOT has set the game that it is not your conventional TV show I mean come on no one guessed that someone could push a child to save their arse. An element of surprise which HOTD lacks unprecedented consequence like Sansa losing Nimeria. Ned stark ? Dont tell me you saw that coming. Vast storylines with unique characters and personalities which HOTD lacks.

HOTD lacks that element of surprise, you can always guess whats gonna happen even Lucerys fate in the finale. Nobody cared for Lucerys anyways. Almost all characters deaths were not impactful as they were never really explored. Im not talking about Viserys he died of disease it was long time coming.

Very few unique characters like Viserys stands out so does queen Alicent, Rhaeneyra and Daemon. May be otto as well but rest are bland. Viserys should get an emmy for his amazing performance. The kids are awful I cant decide who is who such poor charecterization. The show is too dark I mean visually, will be difficult to binge lacks the fun element also. But if you dont compare it with GOT its a good show. The show runners went with a more hollywood style cinematic approach. You can feel that they went for style for eg when Rhaenys fled to get her dragon during Aegon swearing in she had time to find the dragon as well as armor, the dragon broke the roof while she was sitting and she did not break sweat not even dust on her face. There was no wood or iron supporting such large roof strange or its just they forgot logic. What is it with the episodes where dragon does anything its rated high ?

The whole season felt like a build up for something which never happened. No other kingdoms were explored. I get it its the Dance of the dragons but the role of other kingdoms should have been explored to a certain degree. So I am little disappointed but hey its not a bad show its a very good show but my hopes were sky high. There were some amazing scenes like Family dinner scene with Viserys emotional speech, Alicent trying to convince otto to not kill Rhaenerya, Laena after Funeral scene, Viserys convincing Rhanerya why she ll always be his heir etc etc. It had some amazing character moments in almost all the episodes none of the episodes were boring mind you but nothing wow happens either so I ll rate it at 8.5 for first season. Stop getting hyped for dragons.

The first few episodes were entertaining and I thought the plot setup was reasonably good, but after that things don't really change and it is the same stuff over and over again.

The character's seem to remain the same throughout the story, they simply get older. I was kind of hoping something interesting would happen with the characters to make the story worth telling. I only got through episode 8, but based on what I saw I could've stopped at episode 3 and essentially had a complete understanding of all the main characters.

I was mainly hoping Rhaenyra would start to grow up and become someone worth rooting for, instead it is the same old "I'm upset people want a King not a Queen, I deserve the throne, my life is so bad". While Rhaenyra is off in her delusional self-pity fest, her father is committed to giving her the throne despite seemingly no good reasons to do so. She has never done anything to "deserve" the throne because she was simply born into a potential claim to it, and she lives a life of luxury where her father practically gives her all that she wants. (though he wants her to marry someone in accordance with how royalty does marriage, I guess that is the one problem in her life) I can't really empathize with a spoiled brat like her, I don't see why anyone would want to. Rhaenyra seems to be nothing more than a stereotypical member of royalty who only cares about herself and her own power.

Some other reviews compare this show to a soap opera, that seems pretty accurate to me. There are surprisingly few stakes or consequences for the main characters of the show, and each episode has almost nothing happen except continuing to show the continuing "drama" which is about as tense as "ooooo, Rhaenyra and this other lady are super mad at each other, look how mad they are!".

Small final note, I found it very odd how the show is so obsessed with birthing scenes. I can understand the one in the first episode, but it seemed really weird how many there were after that, and long and pronounced those scenes were. Is this a soap opera thing? Do people want to watch this? I understand the family lines are important to the show, but I am not personally interested in watching live birth portrayals regularly.

The storyline is boring. It's like Green as bad guys and Black as good guys very typical storyline.

They made green characters boring and cutoff their important scenes and added unnecessary Black scenes to make them more likable. Dragon Sunfyre, which is an important dragon in the show has less screentime than unimportant dragons Meleys and Vermithor . Rhaenys blasting through dragon pit without any consequence is pure fan service.

This makes the series less interesting and boring since Blacks characters have more interesting and good scenes and Green characters have pale scenes .

There are no complex characters in the show. Daemon and to some extent Aemond are only characters that are complex.

House of the Dragon is the new big thing that most fans are praising as an instant masterpiece, and I think that's wildly overrating this show. While generally well written (mostly dialogue but not in other areas) and acted, I've seen WAY better shows than this in my lifetime. Maybe being a Game of Thrones prequel plays into it, plus the fact that Season 8 of that series is universally panned that people are eager to praise this new show, but I find it to be at best competent with a cast of interchangeably boring, forgettable, and unlikable characters. The entire series seems to be some kind of not-so-backhanded battle of the sexes with an emphasis on "girl power." HotD is centered around on the relationship between 2 female characters Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her best friend growing up Alicent Hightower. Rhaenyra and Alicent started out being respectively played by Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as teenagers in the first 5 episodes of Season 1, then the roles were taken over by Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke (from the masterful Bates Motel series) as adults in the last half of the season. Rhaenyra is the heir to her father King Viserys Targaryen (played by Paddy Considine from the comedy classic Hot Fuzz) and Alicent is the daughter of the King's right hand man Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans from The Amazing Spider-Man). The general plot of the first season are the repercussions of a female ruler taking over the kingdom once Viserys passes as that would be a first. Meanwhile, Otto schemes for power by pimping Alicent out to Viserys, which works since Viserys chooses Alicent as his new wife after his previous wife (and Rhaenyra's mother) died in the Pilot episode. With Alicent as the new Queen, this puts a strain on her friendship with Rhaenyra over the years, culminating in them growing apart and becoming enemies by the end of the season. The other players in this years long drama are (1) Prince Daemon (played by Matt Smith of Dr. Who fame), who is Viserys younger brother and the ruler of Dragonstone, (2) Princess Rhaenys (played by Eve Best from Fate the Winx Saga), who is Viserys' cousin that was passed over for the crown in favor of him, (3) Lord Corlys Velaryon aka The Sea Snake (played by Steve Toussaint), who is Rhaenys' husband and leader of the land's naval forces, (4) Ser Criston Cole (played by Fabian Frankel), a Knights Guard who starts out as Rhaenyra's protector and after falling out of favor with her, ends up as Alicent's protector.

The acting on the show is fine, no major complaints, but none of these characters have any real depth or nuance. They just feel like trained actors spouting fancy sounding words with occasional sarcasm that makes viewers go nuts over. Young Rhaenyra was precocious and smarmy to the point of being a cliche modern sounding teenager and this show is set in a Medieval type world. Young Alicent just always looked confused and sad. One thing I think the show did well was aging up the 2 teens. Older Rhaenyra fared better than the younger one, but this seems to be an unpopular opinion. Older Alicent was also better for me than the young version because the older version had some actual energy and spirit. As for the rest, in particular, I found Rhaenyra's sons Luke and Jace to be very pesky and annoying. Alicent's kids Aegon and Aemond fared better as they some personality, but generally all of these kids came across as bratty modern teens. Cole was pretty underwhelming to me as well. Also, anytime Daemon says anything, I noticed that fans go nuts over his character as if he's the second coming of TV characters. Confusing why so many fans are obsessed with this character when he did much of nothing the entirety of Season 1 to the point he felt like a filler side character. Another confusing fan favorite to me is Rhaenys. Half of her "dialogue" is just constant smirking, which make fans lose their minds over for some reason, and the other half is just competent delivery of dialogue. Otto schemed and manipulated in the most obvious way possible. But there's just nothing underneath and this is how I feel about virtually every character. Again, the acting is good, but nothing groundbreaking or masterful. Viserys was probably the closest to any character on this show approaching award-worthy acting and that's mostly due to Considine's physical acting of a weary old man who was probably twice the actor's actual age and my guess is that he will most likely end up winning an Emmy in 2023 in whatever category that will give him the best chance to win. But in general, when the season was over, I felt NOTHING for any of these characters.

Through most of the season, there were so many time jumps and inconsistencies. Viserys was always sick and dying of something and made long speeches about feeling like an unfit ruler and not being a warrior king. Then by next episode, which is always a time jump years later, he's alive and well and dying of something else. Young Rhaenyra was a full on feminist not wanting to marry a man but wanting to be Queen one day, yet Older Rhaenyra was all about motherhood and got away from her royal duties. Daemon just strutted around with an endless smirk and for some inexplicable reason struck fear into everyone he met even though he's pretty unintimidating physically. Alicent was constantly jealous of Rhaenyra's love life. Cole was just a tool and toy to be passed around by Rhaenyra and Alicent. The Velaryons were just throwaway side characters, basically waiting for the Targaryens to call on them to get involved in the plot. The Sea Snake has this big army of ships that were never seen, only heard about. He disappeared for the better part of a decade presumed dead and came back looking exactly the same, just with a cane. Sea Snake and Rhaenys' children Laenor and Laena existed just to be nominal spouses to Rhaenyra and Daemon who were callously tossed away after one episode to accommodate their eventual union late in the season. Daemon supposedly loves Rhaenyra, then chokes her in the finale with zero retribution from her. Supposedly, he does this because he's angry for being passed over by Viserys, yet he spent years at his own kingdom happy to be rich and lazy. And because of the big time jumps years later after each episode, it makes zero sense that characters are in the same place and frame of mind they were in the previous episode.

The biggest plothole for me in the season was how the writers handled the "death" of Laenor. There's a distinct lack of emotion in this plot that is baffling and the way it is playing out makes zero sense to me. I don't understand how Laenor, Rhaenyra, and Daemon would to the trouble of staging Laenor's death, yet at the very least not telling his parents about it. Wouldn't they be happy to know that their son is alive and well and living the life that he wants to with his lover? How could Laenor put his parents through this unnecessary grief given that they just lost his sister. Why are Rhaenys and Corlys so blase about it? Also, Daemon killed his brother as well. If Sea Snake and Rhaenys are secretly scheming and playing Daemon and Rhaenyra as they support their claim to the kingdom, then the latter duo aren't very smart for concealing Laenor's true fate. And if they aren't playing them, then that means they really don't care about their son at all. Rhaenys could have easily just said she supports Alicent in that crowning Aegon episode and demanded that her granddaughters be brought to her safely. Speaking of, that was the worst episode of the season with that ridiculous ending of Rhaenys unnecessarily killing hundreds of innocent citizens to have a "girl power" moment. The show has an undercurrent of agenda-riddled storytelling that I suspect will become more and more obvious as the series wears on in future seasons. And the finale was probably in the bottom 3 episodes of the season finishing it out on a whimper.

Another problem with this show is the inconsistent way it aged the characters. Viserys aged a lot over the season and of course Alicent and Rhaenyra aged due to older actresses, but characters like Otto, Cole, Rhaenys, Daemon, and Corlys just stayed looking the same in the same time span that Viserys seemed to age 25 years! And I even think they stopped aging Alicent and Rhaenyra once they had kids. People can change a lot even over a 5-year time span and 10 years later characters don't change at all. It's like the makeup department didn't care about such things, which would have added to the authenticity and continuity. The show has hired competent actors playing soulless characters playing dress up and wearing really bad wigs, saying fancy words, roaming around sweeping locations with some really good CGI (for a change). But yet there's no heart, no depth, no nuance. Everything is plain and obvious. No characters really leap off the screen with personality. The dialogue is too on the nose in most scenes and not nearly as clever as the writers think it is. The atmosphere is heavy on misogyny and feminism to the point I can always tell when the writers want the viewer to clap and cheer for progress. And based on the incredibly positive reactions to this series (I'm seeing YouTube videos of people literally clapping and cheering), their obvious storytelling is working. While the cinematography, costumes, and effects are good, the dialogue is extremely shallow despite the generally competent acting. But masterpiece? Not even close. Style over substance.

I don't know why people compare it to GOT? There will not be anything like GOT, because it's about the story, which nothing else will have similar story like GOT!, so please don't comaire them, the two series will be compared in (Cinematography, dialogues, the quality of the materials used, the details, the similarities with the main novel, and every other things we can compare with!)

And here is the first episode, it was so bloody, cinematography was amazing, the dragons looks so real, the dialogues, the story, the actors, they are all amazing, and it will be a great serie on it's own!, not compared to other series!.

So just be fair and give it a chance.